News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. Sept. 30. 2011: A new study claims investors in North America and Europe are optimistic about the investment opportunities that exist in Latin America over the next three years.
According to a survey released Thursday by J.P. Morgan’s Depositary Receipts (DR) business, this optimism is due to the region’s expected economic growth and compelling demographic trends that should boost demand for goods and services.
Investors, the survey found, are also encouraged by improving corporate governance standards, the prevalence of natural resources, low levels of consumer debt, and the continued development of capital markets and infrastructure across Latin America.
Titled “North America and European Investor Opinions of Latin American Companies”, the survey indicates that investors view Brazil and Colombia as the most promising markets in Latin America over the next one to three years, while they are tentative about investing in Peru, Argentina and Venezuela, where there is a lack of clarity pertaining to the political situations in these countries.
Over 50 percent of survey participants believe that Brazil has the best corporate governance standards in Latin America, primarily due to the creation of the Novo Mercado.
Investors, however, stressed the need for companies to further bolster their efforts as they continue to compete for global capital. The survey, conducted in June and July of 2011, gathered the opinions of 40 institutional investors which combined hold approximately $57.3 billion of actively managed equity in Latin American companies, or 13 percent of all actively managed investments from outside the region.
